U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,206 to Gavin is incorporated herein by reference and is substantially copied herein and quoted below, in this, the BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION, section of the instant patent application. FIGS. 1-8 are duplicates from U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,206 and FIG. 11 is a view of the related art cover (spray applicator) 12.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,206 to Gavin, quoted below, is incorporated herein by reference and states, in pertinent part:
“. . . an inlet chamber is typically provided for receiving an input fluid flow from a source such as a garden hose. The inlet chambers are typically provided with two exhaust passages including an approach passage having a reduced cross-sectional area and a smaller passage forming an inlet into a reservoir containing seed. The approach passage in turn connects the inlet chamber with a mixing chamber. Within the mixing chamber, the slurry created by the inputted fluid received through the smaller passage and combined with the seed is mixed with the inputted fluid which flows through the approach passage. Lastly downstream, a nozzle is provided for limited control over the resultant spray pattern.”
“. . . a convertible spray nozzle is provided for application of both soluble and non-soluble materials over a surface. The convertible spray nozzle comprises an inlet end, a distribution section, a mixing section, and an exhaust end. Fluid, such as water, is received into a primary chamber located at the inlet end. The inputted fluid is then divided into two partial flows while within the distribution section. The first partial flow is directed to a canister coupled to the nozzle and provided with the soluble or non-soluble application materials. The second partial flow is directed to a mixing chamber. The mixing chamber is open to the slurry created within the canister whereby the passing of the second partial flow through the mixing chamber draws the slurry from the canister and through an outletchannel for distribution at the exhaust end taking advantage of the venturi principles . . . .”
“. . . the distribution section is provided with a direct fluid passage for permitting the fluids received into the secondary inlet chamber to pass therethrough confined within a predetermined longitudinal cross-sectional area. Further, the mixing section is provided with an outlet channel formed above the predetermined longitudinal cross-sectional area of fluid flow through the direct passage. An outlet channel deflector substantially deflects the portions of the fluid flow obliquely through the mixing chamber against a bottom surface of a flared nose provided at the exhaust end of the spray nozzle.”
“. . . a pair of discs are provided for easy conversion between soluble and non-soluble applications. A stationary disc is received into the spray nozzle housing to partially restrict a passage between the canister and the mixing chamber. The stationary disc is further provided with centering holes for receipt of positioning dimples formed on a movable . . . . The movable disc is apertured having a plurality of outflow orifices of varying size to control the passage between the reservoir and the mixing chamber by means of modifying the cross-sectional area of the passage to “throttle” the flow therethrough.”
“. . . a method of mixing and spraying non-soluble particles using a spray nozzle is provided. A preselected ratio of an inputted fluid stream is constrained to flow through a mixing chamber and directly into an output channel deflector to thereby be deflected through an outlet channel after mixedly combining with portions of a slurry created within the mixing chamber itself. An exhaust end having a flared nose comprising guide ribs and a bottom surface creates an even flow for uniform seed distribution.”
“. . . the FIGURES show a convertible spray nozzle apparatus 10 capable of receiving a canister or jar 16 and a fluid supply as, for example, a garden hose 18.”
“More particularly with reference to FIG. 1, the convertible spray nozzle 10 is generally divided into four regions A, B, C, D. The inlet end A is adapted to receive a garden hose 18 or the like for supply of fluids such as water. An internally threaded nut 22 is received over a flared end of the spray nozzle. The distribution section B and mixing section C combine to form channels which first divide the inputted fluid into at least two partial flows and subsequently downstream recombine the divided flows along with soluble or non-soluble products from within the canister 16. The expelled combination flows through the exhaust end which forms a flared nose for control over the width of exhaust spray.”
“Now with particular reference to FIG. 2, the convertible spray nozzle 10 of the instant invention is shown in an exploded view along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 to expose the constituent components. The inlet end section A contains a number of individual valving parts for control over the inputted fluid stream. Fluid enters the spray nozzle from the right side as viewed from FIG. 2 through a one-way (uni-directional flow) valve 20. To guard against backflow into the supply fluid line and to meet code requirements in certain states, a “raspberry” valve is typically used. The raspberry valve permits the flow of fluid into the housing 11 when the pressure to the right of the valve is greater than the pressure to the left of the valve as viewed in the FIGURE. The valve 20 comprises a small slit for the passage of water therethrough, the material surrounding the slit being resiliently biased toward the closed position wherein, absent any pressure differentials, the valve slit denies the flow of fluids therethrough. A backpressure, manifested as an increasing pressure differential gradient toward the left as viewed in the FIGURE, causes the material of the valve to close the slit with a pressure greater than what exists in accordance with the bias of the material itself.”
“A plunger 26 is adapted to receive an O-ring 28 into a circumferential groove 29. In addition, a pair of larger circumferential grooves 25 are adapted to receive an O-ring pair 24 onto the plunger 26. The O-rings 24, 28 and plunger 26 are sized to be slideably received within a primary inlet chamber 32 of housing 11. When received as such within the chamber 32, the O-rings 24 engage the inner walls of the primary inlet chamber itself to block the flow of water around the plunger as between the plunger 26 itself and the primary inlet chamber walls. At an end of the plunger 26, O-ring 28 is accordingly sized to engage the inner walls of a secondary inlet chamber 34 when positioned to the extreme left as viewed from the FIGURE. When in such position, the combination of plunger 26 and O-ring 28, deny flow of fluids from the primary inlet chamber 32 into the secondary inlet chamber 34.”
“With continued reference to the inlet end section A, a portion of a trigger 30 passes through the housing 11 to engage a recess 27 within the plunger 26. Actuation of the trigger 30, as by a toggle action, serves to slide the plunger assembly 26 longitudinally within the primary inlet chamber 32. Actuation of the trigger 30 in a direction F causes the plunger assembly 26 to slide within the primary inlet chamber 32 leftwardly as viewed in the FIGURE. This has the effect of closing off fluid flow through the secondary inlet chamber 34. Conversely, actuation of the trigger 30 in a direction E longitudinally slides the plunger 26 rightwardly as viewed in the FIGURE to open or allow fluid flow into the secondary inlet chamber 34 through perforations in the plunger 26 spaced radially outward from the O-ring 28 and extending longitudinally through the plunger body.”
“An internally threaded nut 22 mechanically attaches a fluid supply hose such as a garden hose to the housing 11. The nut 22 grips the housing 11 by means of a ridge 23 circumferentially provided on the housing 11 as illustrated.”
“Referring next to the distribution section B, the secondary inlet chamber 34 forms an elongate generally cylindrical hollow section having a longitudinal axis CL, which is collinear with a longitudinal axis of the primary inlet chamber 32 in the preferred embodiment. However, the secondary chamber 34 is of considerably smaller cross-sectional area than the primary chamber, as can be seen from the FIGURE. Fluid flowing into the secondary chamber 34 escapes through one of two openings. A fill passage 38 comprises a small capillary-type passageway which directs the fluid from the secondary inlet chamber 34 into a canister (not shown) received into the housing 11 and coupled thereto as by threads 15. A direct passage 40 forms the second opening and is constrained to lie below the longitudinal axis CL of both chambers 32 and 34 as viewed from the FIGURE. Generally, fluid flowing through the secondary inlet chamber 34 exists the direct passage 40 as a directed spray according to the size of the opening 40 and below the axis CL of the inlet chambers 32 and 34. Fluid which flows through the fill passage 38 mixes with seed or other materials or substances which may be contained in the canister 16 to create a slurry.”
“The axis CL is used for ease of reference in the preferred embodiment, although it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that the relative positioning between the direct passage 40 and a deflector/outlet channel pair described below is primarily responsible for the advantageous results realized by the instant invention.”
“Next referring to the mixing section C, fluid which passes through the direct passage 40 enters a mixing chamber 36 striking an outlet channel deflector surface 52. The flow of fluid through the mixing chamber 36 and across a slurry communicating passage 54, creates a venturi effect which tends to draw the slurry present within the canister 16 into the mixing chamber 36 according to the well-known phenomenon described above. The outlet channel deflector 52 is set at an angle from the longitudinal axis above the uppermost extreme of passage 40 and common to the inlet chambers 32 and 34. The angle is 45.degree. in the preferred embodiment. In addition, the outlet channel 50 and outlet channel deflector 52, meet at a plane defined by the longitudinal axis CL to, in effect, create a “misalignment” between the direct passage 40 and outlet channel 50. That is, fluids escaping the secondary inlet chamber 34 through the direct passage 40, must necessarily first strike the outlet channel deflector 52, before passing through the outlet channel 50. As such, it is apparent that the actual configuration of the chambers 32 and 34 may be modified to conform with any number of applications without departing from the misalignment concept described above.”
“In addition, the cross-sectional area of the secondary chamber 34 in a plane transverse to the axis CL is “tuned” with the area of outlet channel 50. That is, in the preferred embodiment, the chamber 34 and the channel 50 are sized to have corresponding (matching) cross-sectional areas. This arrangement results in the optimum operational characteristics in the preferred embodiment. Experimentation with sizing indicates that for a fixed cross-sectional area of secondary chamber 34, a large outlet channel 50 resulted in a “gasping” or “sputtering” of the product from the reservoir 16. For a small outlet channel 50, the inputted fluid accumulates within the reservoir 16 in turn causing threads 15 to leak the accumulated slurry.”
“The quantity and capacity of the expulsion of the slurry contained within the canister 16 is controlled by a selective adjustment of the slurry communicating passage 54. In the preferred embodiment, a means for controlling the aperture size of the slurry communicating passage 54 comprise a stationary disc 60 and a moveable disc 70.”
“With continued reference to FIG. 2, but more particularly with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 which illustrate views taken along line 6-6 and 7-7 of FIG. 2, respectively, the stationary disc 60 comprises an output orifice 61, a mushroomed center 62, a retainer ridge 63, an orientation clearance 64, a socket 66, and positioning holes 68. The output orifice 61 is selected to determine the absolute maximum size of the slurry communicating passage 54 for all conceivable applications of the spray nozzle. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the housing 11 is adapted to receive the stationary disc 60 over the fill passage wall 39 and up into the rim 14 past the internal threads 15. The stationary disc 60 is provided with an orientation clearance 64 through which the fill passage wall 39 extends. An integral socket 66 mates with a corresponding integral male part formed on the housing 11 to ensure that the stationary disc 60 is properly oriented. A mushroomed center 62 provides for easy manual manipulation of the stationary disc for removal or the like. The stationary disc itself is adapted to receive the movable disc 70 by means of a retainer ridge 63 and centering holes 68.”
“With the stationary disc 60 received into the housing 11 and oriented according to the orientation criteria established by the socket 66, the moveable disc 70 may then be installed into the housing 11 abutted against the stationary disc 60. The moveable disc 70 is provided with a plurality of outflow orifices 72, dimples 74, tabs 76, and an internal centering frictional surface 78. The dimples 74 are positioned about the moveable disc 70 to correspond with the positioning holes 68 provided in the stationary disc 60. As illustrated, the preferred embodiment comprises four hole/dimple sets, to provide for four individual orientations of the moveable disc 70 about an axis loosely defined by the fill passage 38. As can be seen from the FIGURES, the surface 78 is sized to frictionally engage the retainer ridge 63 and in this manner is held thereby during attachment of reservoir 16 to the spray nozzle. Actual control over the resultant size of the slurry communicating passage 54 is controlled by a combination of the output orifice 61 and selection of a one of the plurality of outflow orifices 72. As seen in the FIGURES, the outflow orifices 72 may be sized and numbered according to a wide variety of particular applications. That is, it is possible to provide a single large outflow orifice, or a plurality of small orifices, or any combination thereof, to achieve a desired slurry outflow characteristic.”
“However, it is to be noted that the spray nozzle 10, as illustrated, functions to disperse both soluble and non-soluble products from the reservoir even without the use of either the discs 60 or 70. As would be expected, of course, without the expedient of the discs 60, 70 to govern the flow of the concentrated product, soluble substances are expelled from the nozzle and applied over the desired surface rather quickly, as to make use of the device without the control provided by the discs 60, 70 to be unwise.”
“In operation, a single large outflow orifice is manually selected through use of tabs 76 by rotating the moveable disc 70 about the fill passage axis until the dimples 74 engage the positioning holes 68. In that orientation, a slurry comprising grass seed and water may be applied to a surface. A small outflow orifice 72 for spreading soluble products is possible by manually rotating the moveable disc 70 in quarter-turn increments where the dimples 74 mate with the positioning holes 68. Through this simple expedient, the spray nozzle is easily convertible in the field for use with both soluble and non-soluble products presented within the canister 16. In addition, both discs are easily removable for cleaning or the like.”
“Referring next to FIG. 3, the spray nozzle of the preferred embodiment is illustrated with the moveable disc 70 removed. As can be seen in the FIGURE, the mixing chamber 36 is formed by a combination of mixing chamber walls 42, cover 12, and portions of the stationary disc 60. A passage into the mixing chamber is provided by the output orifice 61 of the stationary disc. Control over the size of the passage is possible with the moveable disc 70 as is described above.”
“With continued reference to FIG. 3, the exhaust end D of the spray nozzle comprises a flared nose so, having guide ribs 82, and a bottom surface 84. The guide ribs 82 are formed to be separated by a gap near the mixing chamber and to protrude forward at an angle from the mixing chamber such that the two ribs are separated by a greater gap at their tips furthest from the housing. The guide ribs forming the flared nose define an angle alpha, which in the preferred embodiment is approximately 25. degree.”
“Referring next to FIGS. 4 and 5, taken on the lines 4-4 and 5-5 of FIG. 3, respectively, the unique positioning of the direct passage 40 and outlet channel 50 of the preferred embodiment will be described. Referring first to FIG. 4, a first end of the mixing chamber 36 is illustrated being formed in part by the cover 12, mixing chamber walls 42, and the housing 11. As can be seen in the FIGURE, the direct passage 40 is configured in a “half-moon” shape in the preferred embodiment. The direct passage 40 opens into the mixing chamber 36 below the longitudinal axis CL.”
“Referring next to FIG. 5, a second end of the mixing chamber 36 is shown being formed in part by the cover 12, the mixing chamber walls 42, and the housing 11. The outlet channel 50 provides an exhaust opening from the mixing chamber 36 above the longitudinal axis CL. Outlet channel deflector 52 extends away from the longitudinal axis CL a distance at least as large as that by which the direct passage 40 extends from the longitudinal axis CL, as illustrated in FIG. 4.”
“By the arrangement of the direct passage and outlet channel as described above, fluid exiting the secondary inlet chamber 34 through the direct passage 40 necessarily strikes the outlet channel deflector 52 formed to lie in a direct path distanced from and parallel with the longitudinal axis CL. A plane H is defined by the longitudinal axis CL illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 and substantially perpendicular with the fill passage 38. The direct passage 40 and the outlet channel 50 are constrained to lie on opposite sides of plane H.”
“With reference next to FIG. 8, the general flow of fluids through the spray nozzle will be described with respect to the preferred embodiment. A first flow is received from a fluid supply source into the primary inlet chamber 32. From the primary inlet chamber 32, the first fluid enters a secondary inlet chamber 34, the inlet chambers being aligned on a common longitudinal axis CL. The fill passage 38 communicates a first portion of the first fluid from the secondary inlet chamber 34 into canister 16. The direct passage 40 communicates a second portion of the first fluid from the secondary inlet chamber 34 into the mixing chamber 36. The second portion of the first fluid is substantially directed by the direct passage against the outlet channel deflector 52. The movement of the second portion of the first fluid flow across the slurry communicating passage 54 draws the slurry into the mixing chamber 36 as a mixed composition flow F.sub.s according to the venturi effect.”
“The outlet channel deflector 52 creates a constant turbulence of the fluids in and near the mixing chamber 36. Some of the turbulence is due in part to flows from the mixing chamber 36 into reservoir 16. Overall, the turbulence performs at least two beneficial functions. First, the progress of the material from the reservoir 16 and out channel 50 is held in check for better control over the concentration of the material applied to the desired spray surface area. Also, the turbulence prevents a “bunching” up of non-soluble products within the mixing chamber 36 which would tend to clog the nozzle.”
“The mixture exiting mixing chamber 36 through outlet channel 50 is substantially directed by the reflected fluid flow from the outlet channel deflector 52. As such, the bottom surface 84 of the flared nose 80 provides a second reflecting surface against which the mixture exiting the spray nozzle is guided. Further, the guide ribs 82 comprising the flared nose 80 determine the “spread” of the mixture exiting the spray nozzle 10. This “doubly reflected” fluid flow according to the inherent misalignment between the direct passage 40 and the outlet channel 50 prevents clogging of the mixing chamber 36 and accommodates a uniform distribution of the expelled fluids.”
“Removal of the flared nose 80 results in a fluid exhaust substantially parallel to the plane defined by the surface 52. But for the nose 80, the expelled fluid flow would generally follow the direction illustrated as F.sub.N.”
FIG. 9 is a side view 900 of a prior art Miracle Gro® spray applicator comprising a thick and rigid plastic bottle 902 spray housing 901, inlet 903 and outlet 904. Inlet 903 is adaptable for use with a typical garden hose. Outlet 904 is adaptable for use with a diffusion spraying device such as a sprinkler head (not shown).
FIG. 10 is a partial cut-away view 1000 of the prior art Miracle Gro® spray applicator illustrated in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 illustrates the sealing of the rigid plastic bottle 902 against the elastomeric seal 912. Specifically, the neck of the bottle 906 includes exterior threads 908 which interengage with internal threads 907 on an interior wall 905 of the spray applicator 901. Elastomeric seal 911 is trapped by walls 909, 910 and 911 of the spray applicator.
The two most common sprayers being offered to the lawn and garden consumer are the siphoning style and the inflow style. The siphoning style uses the venturi effect to deliver product to the exiting orifice of the sprayer. In order to maintain the venturi these designs must have an air inflow to replace the product outflow and maintain the venturi effect. The inflow styles being offered purport to use a venturi to deliver product to the outflow orifice but in fact do not since these designs do not have an air inflow mechanism.
Neither the Gavin '206 patent quoted above nor other inflow type sprayers recognize the need for a strong venturi effect with an air intake to enable the venturi. The lack of a strong venturi causes malfunctions both in the application of the product and in the emptying process. Without airflow to replace the emitted product from the container the venturi effect is defeated.
Previous designs do not indicate any bottle neck ring design and do not indicate the manner in which the sprayer head is to be affixed to the container. In fact, as indicated above in connection with FIGS. 9 and 10, some of the designs in fact are sealed so that no air may enter the sprayer head or the container. These designs are typically made with full 360° threads for both the head and the container. When the head and container are combined they seal the jar (container) to prevent leaks from the threads during use. This sealing prevents airflow through the threads defeating the venturi. These designs utilize pressure applied into the container to force the product up and out of the container. However, there is a pressure imbalance across the body of the container. Without equalizing pressure inside and outside of the container, the container walls must be thick and rigid as disclosed above in connection with the Miracle Gro® spray applicator in FIGS. 9 and 10. The requirement to design heavy duty containers also limits the size of the container and creates additional cost. The force out design also prevents the units from emptying completely unless they are inverted (turned upside down) and the container is unscrewed one full turn from the sprayer head while the water pressure is on and the unit is upside-down usually causing a wet and annoyed user.
The Gavin '206 design without the disc assembly allows for proper air input only when not over tightened and does not disclose any way to prevent over tightening. The Gavin '206 design with the disc assembly will dispense slurry through the largest orifice (insoluble) when the threads are not tightened to seal air off. When the smaller orifice is used in the Gavin '206 and air is allowed to flow (i.e. threads are loosened), then pulsation and malfunction of the discharge occurs. In soluble position the disc assembly of the Gavin '206 design does not perform better than other soluble sprayers on the market.
FIG. 11 is a view 1100 of a prior art cover as illustrated in FIG. 1. Specifically, FIG. 11 is an interior view 1100 the of prior art spray applicator. Flats 1101 in threads 15 are illustrated as is the lip 1102 in the spray applicator. Reference numeral 1103 is the interior of the upper portion of the spray applicator. Reference numeral 1103A indicates the head portion of the housing or, put another way, the interior of the upper portion of the spray applicator. Reference numeral 1105 indicates the bottom lip (sometimes referred to herein as the open end portion) of the cap portion of the housing of the spray applicator. Reference numeral 1106 is the outer top of the spray applicator. Reference numeral 1109 is the male part for interengagement with socket 66 of a fixed disc to secure the fixed disc to the cap portion of the housing.